Multivariate Testing for Sublayouts in Sitecore

2
votes

Having toyed with the concept in the past, I am interested in using multivariate testing on my companies Sitecore website. There are a number of places where I feel we can definitely improve sales through the use of A/B testing in:

  • Running two entirely different templates to see what layouts work better for users
  • Running a number of different Sublayouts (forms) on the site to see which ones people are more likely to fill out
  • Trialling different content - Running two different sets of copy to see if users are more likely to stay on the page

I want to use the Marketing Suite within Sitecore, and I want to be able to measure who visits pages more and count, out of two or more sublayout forms, which form is used the most. Sadly, I have no experience with the OMS and am struggling to see how one actually implements these things.

Let's say I have a content item, with a bunch of sublayouts attached to it within its template. Can someone help guide me towards a way of achiving the three things I want to run multivariate testing on?

EDIT: On the subject of the two sublayouts I want to test on a template; I have two sublayouts, which are both simple ASP.NET email forms. Once a user fills in the form the contents of the form are written to a database and an email (using Sitecore.Context.Item to get an "Email From" field from the content item that runs the form).

This is where I get stuck. A number of the sublayouts I have don't seem to have any "content" that needs pulling from a data source. The only content I can see in the case of the two forms I want to test is the "Email To" fields. So, if I were to abstract those away into their own data templates, and then added those as data sources I assume that I would then have to change my code for these to stop using Sitecore.Context.Item?

The point where I get stuck is with the data sources for the Multivariate Test Variables and the data sources for the Sublayouts. If I have two data templates containing the Email fields for each, two sublayouts that contain the forms that need testing and two multivariate variables, what goes where?

3
asp.nettestingusabilitysitecore
You only need ONE sublayout that changes in certain areas, e.g. text. A MV test will randomly assign a data source, so whatever you want to be different between the MV test versions would need to be abstracted into the datasources. Having two sublayouts doesn't fit this model. The MV test will not apply one or the other since a MV test work on a single sublayout. Definitely read the document I provided below, it should clear it up. - Mark Ursino
I'd like to also point out that you do not use multiple sublayouts for a DMS test on a component. The way DMS multivariate testing works is that you have 1 sublayout on presentation details that you want to enable DMS for. Then, in Page Editor, you can "edit variations" to add multiple variations to that sublayout. You can choose different data sources from this point in the window to add as variations. These data sources are not sublayouts. - Ben Sewards

3 Answers

3
votes

I believe you can read about it in the Analytics Configuration Reference (PDF link) under section 2.2.

You essentially create a MV test that wraps over potential data sources of a sublayout. The test then randomly assigns a DataSource, so your sublayouts need to be written to work with a DataSource.

1
votes

With Sitecore 8 released Multivariate Testing is now supported out of the box as well as AB Testing.

You can run two entirely different templates to see which Layout works best for the user by Page Test in Sitecore's Optimization Tool on the Launch Pad. Creating a Page Test you can select the current version of the Item then create a new Version of the Item with the different Layout. This can also be done for Content on the Page

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After that you need to decide how a winner can be chosen e.g. most goals completed by users, registrations etc then Sitecore will automatically run the test for you showing A and B to various users and ultimately choose a winner based on the Test Objective. You can choose a winner mannually or let Sitecore automatically choose after a set Duration.

Creating a Mulitvariate Test on number of different Sublayouts as well as imagery, personalisation, content etc is a little more interesting. To create a Multivariate Test is done via Workflow Actions, I've posted a blog recently how to add Maultivariate Testing to workflow.

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Approving with a Test will prompt Sitecore to create a Multivariate Test for all variables (Sublayouts, Content, Personalization etc). It creates an 'Experience' for every possible combination of these variables and tests them against each other.

For a more in-depth explination and guide I have recently posted a tutorial to create a Multivariate Test in Sitecore.

-1
votes

There are two trainings that you (and a developer on your team) should really consider attending: OMS Certified Marketer and OMS .NET Developer.

Working with a Sitecore Certified OMS .NET Developer, you will be able to accomplish your marketing objectives. This is what Sitecore Training is for!

Please see the following and regsiter for the next available trainings:

http://www.sitecore.net/Training/Course-Overview/OMS-11-Certified-Marketer.aspx

http://www.sitecore.net/Training/Course-Overview/OMS-11-NET-Developer.aspx